In any retail sales operation, it is necessary that the product to be sold be conveniently stored and displayed for easy access. In a self-service retail sales outlet, the consumer must be attracted to the product display. He must then be able to easily identify the product and determine whether sufficient quantities of the product are available to satisfy his needs. All necessary information, such as brand name and logo, price, price per unit, quantity of product, a special price (if any), ingredients information and the like, must be conveniently displayed in order to allow the consumer to determine whether to buy the product. The consumer must then be able to easily and safely remove the product, as required, from the display. Minimal or no assistance from store personnel should be required.
The above requirements for a retail sales operation generally apply to any product; however, in particular, they apply to product stored in bottles, cans and the like.
A typical method of displaying, for example, cans, requires the removal of the cans from the cardboard boxes in which they are transported. Subsequently the cans are stacked into attractive pyramid-like piles located in aisles or other available space. Prices and other information relating to the product may be provided on a nearby sign. Such a system suffers from numerous disadvantages. First, a significant amount of labour is required to arrange the display initially. Second, once arranged, it cannot be easily moved. A move would entail a further amount of labour. Third, not all consumers may be able to conveniently reach and remove a can from the top of the stack. Fourth, a consumer may remove a can from the middle of the stack, introducing structural instability to the stack. The stack in such a condition is unsafe and may collapse unexpectedly. Such a collapse may cause personal injury and loss of product if cans are damaged. Sales of other products may be interfered with and, at the very least, additional labour will be required to clean up and reorganize the cans.
Another typical method for display involves the removal of cans from the cardboard boxes and their storage on shelves, usually in close association with other, sometimes competing, products. In addition to the above disadvantages, the product display may not be pleasing or attractive to the consumer's eye. As well, shelf space is required and such requirement may limit the kinds or amounts of product that the store operator may be able to display and sell. Similar problems arise if the product containers are stored in bins.
Generally, product in containers (such as bottles, cans and the like) is shipped from a manufacturer's plant in cardboard or plastic boxes. At the retail store, another common display method comprises the stacking of opened boxes. In the case of cardboard boxes, a sharp knife is used to cut away the top part of the box, leaving only a tray-like bottom portion in which the product is stored. Cardboard inserts between adjacent containers, which provide padding, are removed. A second box, opened in a similar way, may be stacked directly on top of the first box. In this way, the upper box rests on and is supported by the containers in the lower box. In such a system, less labour is required for setting up than in the case of the other displays described above. This system provides what is essentially a stack of product, without in-store shelving. The layers of product are supported on each other.
This is suitable for products such as cans, where the product has a uniform shape, top and bottom It is much less suitable for products such as bottles where the top is small, in relation to the bottom. Bottles may be displaced or tilted and thus render the stack unstable. Bottles are usually taller than cans, giving rise to greater problems of instability. Another important disadvantage with this system is that a consumer may remove product from a lower box/tray. If a can is removed from other than the upper box/tray, the stack may become unstable with the consequent danger of collapse. A further disadvantage is that typical cardboard boxes do not provide an attractive display for consumers.
In the case of plastic boxes, the upper face of each box is often open. An upper box may rest on and be supported by a lower box. In this case a consumer is effectively prevented from removing product from a lower box prior to removal of the upper box. However, there exists the disadvantage that when the upper box is empty, the next consumer will have to remove the bulky, perhaps heavy, plastic upper box to gain access to the lower box.
In light of the foregoing disadvantages, clearly it would be advantageous to provide a combined stacking and display system for containers which requires a minimal amount of labour to set up, is portable, is attractive, is safe, and prevents a consumer from removing containers from lower layers of the display.
In particular it is desirable to provide such a system which is particularly suitable to the stacking of bottles in a self-supporting display of this type.